declared bankruptcy and its government was abandoned and Memphis lost its City Charter in 1879 becoming only a "taxing district of the state." Founder Dr. David T. Porter became the President of the "taxing district" of Shelby County which is the equivalent to the office of Mayor. The Asylum Grows Again with the help of the Odd Fellows During the terrible yellow fever epidemics of the 1870s, the Orphanage's attendants and children suffered heavily as did the rest of the city's population. Many Memphis children were orphaned by this epidemic and so great did the need increase in the years just after the plague, that the Independent Order of Odd Fellows expressed an interest in enlarging the facilities of the Leath Orphan Asylum. In 1875, the Odd Fellows of Memphis organized a national subscription of funds to erect a large and impressive three-story brick building. This structure, completed in April 1876, originally was called the Odd Fellow's Wing. Eventually, it became the Asylum's main building and is now used for general administration and visitor purposes and is one of several buildings on the Porter-Leath campus listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Start of the 20th century At the start of the 20th century, the Children's Home, a small but similar institution on Alabama Street, was consolidated with the Orphanage and the institutions' new "merged" name became the Leath Orphan Asylum and Children's Home. Early in 1900, the institution was updated and equipped with electric lights and plumbing. On March 16, 1900, the Leath Orphan Asylum and Children's Home for Orphan and Destitute Children published its Constitution and By-Laws, listing their Trustees (W.W. Schoolfield, James K. Porter, J. S. Dunscomb, Judge J. R. Flippin, W. J. Chase, P. McIntyre and P.R. Friedel), their Honorary Members, Officers and Board Managers, along with their former Presidents (Mrs. Marge Doyle, Mrs. Joseph Bruce, Mrs. Nina D. Martin, Mrs. A. F. Davis, Mrs. B. F. Haller, Mrs. Joseph Bruce, Mrs. Annie B. Stewart, and Mrs. L.E. Boswell). This publication also set forth the "Rules" of the institution and its visitation policy. The Porter Home and Leath Orphanage From the late 19th century, Dr. David T. Porter was a Trustee of the Orphanage and one of its most generous contributors. His brother and sister, James K. Porter and Mrs. Rebecca Porter Bartlett, were also active in the institution. When Mrs. Bartlett died in January